A letter to the editor, from the desk of Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, lately of the river, now of the supply closet To the Editor: Sir — I have met a good many frugal men in my time, and I have observed that the true test of frugality is not what a man does when Read More …
Category: Life
I will finally acknowledge that there are some nice things in this world that do not involve the bass.
Just Plain Food :: Cheerio Bars
I’m tired of a food system built around engineered cravings and shelf life instead of actual food. Oat-Stabilized Sunflower Butter Layer 1 cup Almond butter or sunflower butter (well-stirred) 1 cup Rolled oats or quick oats (pulsed into a coarse flour) 4 tbsp (½ stick) Unsalted butter or melted coconut oil (solid at room temp) Read More …
Total Control and a Borrowed Bucket
Mr. Clemens on the President’s diesel deal with Moscow A letter to the editor, from the desk of Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, lately of the river, now of the fuel pump To the Editor: Sir — I spent the better part of my youth on the Mississippi, where I learned one rule above the rest: Read More …
Nine Bathrooms Out of Ten
A letter to the editor, from the desk of Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, lately of the river, now of the rental listing To the Editor: Sir — I have in my time been shown a great many remarkable machines, and have found that the more remarkable the machine, the more modestly its inventor will describe Read More …
Built Together, Billed Separately
To the Editor: Sir — I see by the papers that a concern called Amazon, whose chief business appears to be the delivery of everything to everybody by Thursday, has announced that it will spend more than one billion dollars over five years upon the towns that have the misfortune to host its data centers. Read More …
The Television Is Watching You Back
I was raised to believe a television was a box you watched. It turns out I had the arrangement backwards. Researchers at UC Davis, University College London, and a university in Madrid sat down and did the plain, unglamorous work of watching what a smart TV sends out over the wire while you watch it. Read More …
Who Is for the Children?
Mark Twain gave the first Gilded Age its name, and I suspect he would not be surprised that we are due for a second. Gilt is cheap. It looks like gold from across the room. Chicago is holding an election for its school board on November 3rd. Twenty-one seats. Here is what I found: everyone Read More …
Just Plain Food :: Horchata
I’m tired of a food system built around engineered cravings and shelf life instead of actual food. Here is the recipe to yield 1.5 liters of finished horchata. Ingredients & Equipment 1 cup long-grain white rice (uncooked) 1 whole cinnamon stick 1 tsp pure vanilla extract ½ cup sugar (adjust to taste) 2 cups milk Read More …
A Letter to the Editor
From the desk of Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, lately of the river, now of the republic To the Editor: Sir — I have been dead a good while now, but a man does not have to be alive to recognize a confidence game. What is being run on the American public at present is as Read More …